Microsoft’s GitHub acquires npm to help JavaScript developers
Microsoft continues its push towards open source development with its acquisition of npm.
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What you need to know
Microsoft’s GitHub announced that it will acquire npm, a popular company that has a massive registry of JavaScript packages. GitHub’s Nat Friedmandiscussed the deal from GitHub’s side, while annpm blog postby the company’s founder talks about the deal from npm’s side. GitHub and npm both focus heavily on open source development.
For developers that currently use the registry, the most important takeaway is that it will remain free. npm’s blog post states that its registry of packages will remain “public, free, and as available as ever.” GitHub’s Friedman states that “the public npm registry… will always be available and always be free.” Paying customers that use npm Pro, Teams, and Enterprise to host private registries will still be able to do so.
Friedman explains that the focus of this deal is to invest infrastrucutre and platform, improve the core experience, and engage with the community. In the future, GitHub will integrate with npm, allowing developers to trace a change from a GitHub pull request all the way to an npm package version.
npm’s story began in 2009 when its founder created a package manager for “sharing modules in a tiny group of nerdy weirdos who’d decided to write web servers in JavaScript.” In 2014, npm transitioned into a business, growing into a major player in the JavaScript development space.
Friedman states that “The work of the npm team over the last 10 years, and the contributions of hundreds of thousands of open source developers and maintainers, have made npm home to over 1.3 million packages with 75 billion downloads a month. Together, they’ve helped JavaScript become the largest developer ecosystem in the world.”
When npm was founded, it had a set of goals that its founder says have stayed mostly the same:
The first goal is the most important in relation to this deal. With the GitHub acquisition of npm, the npm team feels comfortable that its registry will be available long after the company is gone. The npm blog post concludes by saying, “This is the end of ‘npm, Inc.’, the Delaware C Corp. But it’s an exciting upgrade for npm.”
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Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
